Surveillance video captures stun gun incident

Edited surveillance camera video footage obtained by The Morning Call shows an Allentown police officer firing his stun gun at a teenage girl in September outside Dieruff High School.

The Sept. 29 video – entered into evidence as part of a federal lawsuit filed last week against officer Jason Ammary and the city of Allentown – appears to show the girl raising her arms about a second before the officer fires the weapon and the girl collapses on the street.

Attorney Richard J. Orloski, who filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Victoria Geist, the mother of the 14-year-old-girl in the video, says that Ammary used excessive forced when he fired the Taser directly at the teen's groin.

Allentown City Solicitor Jerry Snyder said he is aware of the lawsuit but hasn'treviewed it enough to comment. He said he has not viewed the video and would not comment on Ammary's status with the police department.

At the time of the incident, police said Dieruff had been having problems with students being disorderly during dismissal. Police also said the officer was justified in using his Taser, according to the "use-of-force continuum" – the standard police use to gauge their use of force.

The lawsuit claims an excessive use of force, an illegal arrest and the filing of retaliatory charges against 14-year-old Keshana Wilson to justify using the Taser.

She had been charged with aggravated assault on an officer, simple assault, riot, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and walking on the highway. The assault and riot charges were dismissed in juvenile court.

Orloski would not comment further on the lawsuit Tuesday, saying "the video is more convincing than any words from me."

The first 15 seconds of the surveillance footage begins with Wilson and two unidentified friends walking in the 800 block of Washington Street and then turning back to talk to a group of students.

As the teens are beginning to talk, the video abruptly cuts to an Allentown police officer struggling with a girl on the side of a parked car.

According to the complaint, Orloski says that the portion of the video was redacted because a pair of surveillance cameras do not capture the entire scene. About 1 minute and 40 seconds is missing from the video, according to the lawsuit.

When the video continues, Ammary appears to be pinning and shoving Wilson against the car using his right forearm to her neck area. The girl's left arm comes across and her elbow appears to catch Ammary on the right side of his face.

At that point, Ammary appears to have unholstered his Taser. He takes three steps back and fires at Wilson who appears to raise her arms when she first sees the Taser pointed at her.

Wilson clutches for her midsection as she collapses to the ground. The lawsuit claims Ammary "intentionally" shot the teen in the pelvic region to "inflict the maximum amount of pain."

As the girl is on the ground, Ammary appears to call for assistance using his shoulder radio and orders one of the fallen girl's friends to back away. As school security officers arrive , one can be seen leading away an unidentified boy in handcuffs.

The girl was taken to the hospital to have the probes from the Taser removed. The lawsuit claims Ammary also made disparaging remarks about the girl's "socioeconomic status."

The lawsuit and Allentown police gave different version of events leading to Wilson's arrest. The 100 seconds of missing video does not show when Ammary confronted Wilson and what prompted the confrontation.

According to the lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of money, Wilson did nothing to provoke Ammary. Orloski writes in the lawsuit that the officer grabbed Wilson from behind without identifying himself and "violently" pushed her into the side of the car.

Allentown police said the girl was cursing and inciting the crowd and when the officer went to arrest her for being disorderly, she twisted away from him. The officer then leaned her against the trunk of the car to place handcuffs on her, but she continued resisting and elbowed the officer in the chin, police said.

The lawsuit claims that the video also refutes some other "embellishments" in the police report, including:

Ammary saying he aimed lower because the teen was using her backpack to block the Taser; the video shows her upper body exposed.

Ammary saying hundreds of students were blocking vehicle traffic when the video only shows a small number of students on the street.